International Soap Swap - Sabons Carmeta & iamhandmade.com

The wonderful Julia from the Soap Artists blog (http://www.soapartists.blogspot.com) organised a HUGE international soap swap and I was picked to swap with Carmen from Sabons Carmeta based in Spain.  I was a little behind in sending out my parcel but I held off on my blog post for her soaps until she received mine.  Then Titch and I did a video and Titch did a photo shoot of the soaps.  They were all fabulous, the packaging (as you'll see in the video) was amazing and she even included her own, homegrown, lavender which will definitely be included in one of my soaps very very soon.  She sent a wonderful selection of her soaps and they all smelt incredible .. check out the video for our reactions, we were VERY happy indeed.  Below are the stills photos that Titch took, I think you'll agree the soaps look amazing and Titch's photos really brought out their natural beauty.

Check out Sabons Carmeta on http://www.sabonscarmeta.blogpsot.com if you would like more info about her soaps... her post about my soaps is there too (I can't seem to link the title I'm afraid, pity).  If you'd like to see more of Titch's photos, check out her page at http://www.facebook.com/takenbytitch.  All our soaps can be seen and bought on http://www.iamhandmade.com.

Thank you so much Julia for introducing us and thanks SOOOOOOOO much to Carmen for allowing me to experience and enjoy your soaps xxxx

Enjoy!

Another New Video - Cutting Raspberry Mimosa

Ok, perhaps I'm enjoying this video making lark now.  I still won't show my face though... I'm shy!!!

I made a new soap on Sunday morning - I woke early and decided to make soap (what else?!).  I had a blend in mind of juicy raspberry and crisp green apple but, when we all sniffed it, we thought it was a little too sweet.  So I had thought that morning to add May Chang essential oil - this is a wonderfully sherberty lemony essential oil (possibly one of my top three) and it's worked really well.  It's cut through that sweetness and given a lovely citrusy note that has worked so well with the crisp apple and sweet juicy raspberry.  I am loving this fragrance!

I've used my usual blends of skin loving oils (sweet almond, golden olive and avocado) along with lots of cocoa butter and, of course, pure wild silk (I LOVE that .. talk about luxury!).  This was a beauty to make and a beauty to look at.  I love love love the colours too - reminds me of the best ice cream sundaes and smells like the nicest cocktail ever!

Hope you like the video - my hubby was the director and cameraman and walking comedian ... you'll see what I mean!!!

BTW I've noticed that the You Tube video doesn't show up on the subscription emails so I'm including the link here so you can just click into it - http://youtu.be/66gRnKiVUuc

This soap will be stocked in our online store at http://www.soaperstar.com/ from 11 October onwards - as ever, if you'd like to pre-order, just drop me a line at info@soaperstar.com and we'll talk!

Cute Little Programme

On trawling through Facebook this morning, I saw that Emily from Shieh Design Studio flagged up a very cute little programme called Wordle.  You put in a your blog or website address and it comes up with the words most frequently used, in a cool graphic format.

So, of course, I had to try the blog out... only natural of course... and here's my image (no prizes for guessing the most used word!)

Cutting a new soap & my first Talkie!

My last post showed how I made my new Laundry Day soap which was mostly photos but a tiny little video too.  Everyone who saw it said "but why didn't you talk on it?".  Apparently, everyone wants to hear my accent!! Now I don't think I have much of an Irish accent but you can be the judge of that because we made another video today showing me cutting the soap. 

Oh I never mentioned about the fragrance on the video and that was really silly because it's a lovely scent - it reminds me of freshly washed laundry blowing in the breeze on a summer's day or when you just change all your bedclothes and snuggle in and feel so soft, safe and comfy.  It's sooooooooooo lovely, I adore it.  I'm definitely using this again too. 

So here is me, in my first talkie! Not sure what you'll think of it, I'm dying to hear!

Huge thanks, yet again, to Titch for being the videographer (check out her Facebook page at www.facebook.com/takenbytitch). 

Why Buy Handmade Soap?

I'm often asked what's the difference between shop bought soaps and handmade soaps and why should people buy handmade, especially in this economy.  Below is an article I wrote some time ago that explains exactly why you should treat yourself to a little practical luxury, especially in these days of stresses and strains. 

Why Buy Handmade Soap?
It's a good question - why should you pay €5 for a bar of soap when you can go to the nearest Lidl or Euro Store and buy 10 bars of their cheap soap for that price?

Ask yourself "How highly do I value my skin?".  Did you know that your skin is the largest organ in your body? In an adult, it covers 3,000 square inches and without it, the body cannot survive.  It's something you wear everyday, people see it all the time, you eat, breathe and sleep in it .. so why wouldn't you value it?  It's with you from birth to death and all occasions in between.  

Let's look at the El Cheapo brand of soap you can buy in your local supermarket or Euro Store - many of the industrial manufactured soaps are made with harsh chemicals that can strip your skin of it's natural moisturisers.  How often do you use a soap that smells really nice but makes your skin really rough, dry and red afterwards? Too often?

On the other hand, artisan handmade soap is designed for various skin types by the choice of oils and additives used.  For example, Olive Oil is a superb oil for making soap and has been traditionally used for years in Castile soap - why? Because it is excellent for your skin; it's a natural humectant (that is, it draws moisture from environment, into your skin).
 
Other oils are particularly good for dry, sensitive or mature skins and additives such as clays and a clever blend of essential oils can really help oily skins.  Every single bar of handmade soap contains natural glycerine - this is produced as a result of the chemical reactions that take place when soap is made and it is an amazing ingredient as it, again, draws moisture from the air into your skin.

Remember the El Cheapo brand you were thinking of buying? Well, the manufacturers of that are watching their bottom line all the time - pound for pound, glycerine costs more than soap, so they cleverly remove it from the industrially made soap and sell it on to cosmetic manufacturers making a nice big profit - after all, they've made soap and glycerine so they have two products to sell.  They've sold the glycerine to companies that make lotion ... you know, the exact same lotion you have to use after using the soap because it makes your hands so dry.. do you hear their ching ching as the dollar signs pop up in their eyes?! Are you beginning to wonder if El Cheapo really is such a bargain after all?

All our handmade soaps retain all their skin loving glycerine so, whilst the soap cleanses, it also helps to moisturise and condition your skin.  I wouldn't know how to remove it even if I wanted... but I don't, I like it in there, it loves me, it loves my skin. 

So, you might be wondering how handmade soap is actually made ... here comes the science bit - to make soap, you need oils and/or butters, liquid and lye. What is lye? Lye is an alkaline that, when it comes into contact with the fatty acids present in the oil blend, will cause a chemical reaction called saponification - this is what turns the oils/water/lye combo into soap.  Will the lye burn your skin? Absolutely not - in fact, it's not even present in the final soap - the full chemical reaction will have changed the basic oil/water/lye combination into soap (this is why you don't see lye written as part of the ingredients because it's not there in the final product).
 
For handmade soaps, the oils/butters combination chosen is very interesting - a clever soap designer can create a formulation to increase a soaps conditioning power, cleansing power, hardness and bubble factor.  They can adjust a recipe to suit any skin type - not only that, but they can add other ingredients that boosts the soap performance.

Additives such as herbal infusions, the use of milks/creams as the liquid portion, clays etc will each add their own unique features to the soap.  In this way, you are actually purchasing a designer item - designed with you in mind! We only choose the highest quality pure skin-loving oils for use in our soaps (after all, we use them too and we love having good skin).

Oils such as Olive Oil, Coconut Oil, Apricot Kernel Oil, Rice Bran Oil, Avocado Oil and Sweet Almond Oil are used along with rich butters such as Shea and Cocoa Butters that help to enhance the moisturizing capabilities of the soap. We do use Palm Oil but only use a variety that comes from a sustainable source.

We fragrance our soaps with a blend of Essential Oils and Fragrance Oils (these are synthetic aromatic oils that often contain essential oils as their basis).  Some people worry about the use of "synthetic" fragrance oils but be assured that all the oils and colours we use are specifically designed for cosmetic use and are totally skin safe.  Plus there's no doubt there's more chemicals in the expensive bottle of perfume you have standing in your bathroom.

We often choose additives such as Coconut Milk, Buttermilk, Fresh Dairy Cream and, always, always, always use our favourite pure wild silk to include in our soaps - these add an extra luxury element and are hugely moisturising. And, you'll have noticed that we also like to use some very natural ingredients from our own kitchen storecupboards such as various milks, oats, carrots, lavender, poppy seeds etc because they all add their own beauty to the soaps.

Once you've decided that your skin is worth it, make sure to take care of your handmade soap - keep it stored out of water on a soap dish or soap drainer and use a natural sea sponge, cotton washcloth or shower scrubby to get biggest bubbles ever from your soap - this helps foam it up even more which means you end up using less than if you just rubbed it directly on your body.  Loving your soap means it'll last longer and that means value for money!

So... do you still fancy buying the El Cheapo brand of, ahem, soap or do you want to venture into the heady world of handmade, artisan products - products I like to think of as practical art, designed and handmade, produced with care and attention and a loving respect for not only the product but the customer too?

When you think about it, €5 for sheer luxury ingredients and a once off piece of useable designer art is such a bargain... maybe you should buy lots?!!

Autumn Rose & Winter Orange Spice

I've been a little busy lately (though not as busy soaping as I was on my holidays but that's what happens when you've a full-time job, I guess!) and have made two new soaps and thought I'd show you. 

First up is Autumn Rose - she was born because a customer wanted samples of handmade luxury soap to give as small gifts to her clients and asked if I could design a soap for her.  She kindly allowed me free reign with the design, choice of colours and fragrance.  Initially, we'd thought a wedding-y type soap (as she is a bridal jewellery designer) and I worked with some colours I thought would appeal across the board.  But, as we know with soap at times, it can decide to do it's own thing colour wise!

I used a new red coloured mica and wanted a deep reddish pink colour as the base... actually it turned out more of a terracotta colour.  The pinks, greens and yellows which I wanted to keep light and almost pastel, were lighter than I'd expected.  All in all, the soap started out one way and became something else entirely.  However, when I unmoulded it, I thought "Autumn!" and, as it the fragrance was rose based, the name "Autumn Rose" just popped into my head.  It seemed to fit so well.  I showed my customer the soap and she loved it, she thought the autumnal colours looked just like a landscape.  So I went ahead and cut it into lovely little sample bars and, I must say, they did look so lovely all lined up, looking cute as buttons. 

The fragrance is described as a soft floral fragrance with top notes of cassis, bergamot and lemon with a floral heart of rose otto, softened by sweet violet on a soothing base is composed of soft woods, amber and musk.  It's a soft, delicate fragrance but one that so matches the soaps colours.

As you can see, it was also my first opportunity to use my new soap stamp which I love!! I need to leave the soap for about 2 - 3 days after cutting and before stamping though, I think, otherwise it'll be too soft and might take some of the soap with it.  This was my first attempt!

My second soap is an Autumn/Winter version and is called Winter Orange Spice - I wanted to create something extra orangey with a light spice background.  It's not a Christmas soap only but one for both seasons at least... but it's so lovely, I'd be happy to use it all year round!

It has a blend of Sweet Orange, May Chang (which is a fantastic lemony sherbert essential oil, so fresh and bright and gives a nice background to so many citrus oils) and a little Clove essential oil along with a dash of Cinnamon fragrance oil .  It also has fresh orange zest from two HUGE oranges mixed into the orange soap.. this will keep on giving blasts of orange as you use it. 

Both soaps are made with Sweet Almond, Golden Olive and Avocado Oil and lots of Cocoa Butter (amongst other oils) and, as always, I used pure wild silk ... I just cannot say enough about what this brings to the final product, it's so lovely, and so luxurious!

Both soaps will be available in early October - as Autumn Rose was primarily a custom order, there are only a few of these bars left but, if they're not pre-ordered by the time they're cured, then I'll put them on the site.  There are, at the moment, 10 bars of the Winter Orange Spice.

I really hope you like these soaps - if you'd like to pre-order either, please do email me at info@soaperstar.com and put one aside for you. 

Gallery Images

I found a nice little programme that makes up the best gallery images and I've been playing around with it a little... and here is a collage of a lot of recent images!

I just love it!!

Off on our Summer Holidays! But you can still order...

We're off with our buckets & spades on Friday 1 July so just a little notice to say that all orders received up to midnight on Wednesday 29 June will be posted out on Thursday 30 June & any orders received after midnight on 29 June will be sent out from Monday 18 July.  

The site will be open for ordering but I won't be able to check emails or orders til mid July.  We're going to a small country village for a while - there's no internet connection and no phone signal and just peace and quiet galore... just what we need. 

I cannot wait for holidays - we're going back to a place we love, a place we eventually want to move to; a place where we feel we can breathe clearly and freely... to us, it's just called Heaven.  

If you're interested in seeing it, this is where we're headed:

Aerial View

View from the top of the village

Our local & favourite pub & restaurant (sooo good!!!)

We'll be back in mid July and I hope raring to go because I'm sure the soaping urge will be VERY strong by the time I've returned.  Plus I'll have used up all those cute bath bombs I made!!  

It's only 82 hours til we're there!!! Not that I'm counting that is.... just 4,920 minutes.... nope, not counting the 295,200 seconds!

New Articles

I just started a new Articles page on my website and I thought you might like to hop over and give it a look - the first (and only one, for now) article is called "Why Buy Handmade Soap" and it's gotten some great interest on our Facebook Page.

Check out a taster... "Why Buy Handmade Soap?  It's a good question - why should you pay €5 for a bar of soap when you can go to the nearest Lidl or Euro Store and buy 10 bars of their cheap soap for that price? 

Ask yourself "How well do I value my skin?". Did you know that your skin is the largest organ in your body? In an adult, it covers 3,000 square inches and without it, the body cannot survive. So, I bet you value your skin now that I told you that?!" Read more ...

I'm hoping to do more articles on the questions people often ask me about oil properties, how handmade soap is actually made, what's the difference between essential and fragrance oils ... it's a great excuse for me to research too! Hope you enjoy it!

Luxury Glycerine Soaps - Grab them Now while the Goings Good!

As I announced a while back, we're closing down the retail side of Soaperstar - this is to allow me to concentrate on other products and techniques, such as the cold and hot process soaps you've seen on here.  I'm toying with the idea of setting up some simple site to allow people to buy these new soaps through as people seem to really love them (the Lemon Cream one I made a while back is almost all gone already!).

Anyway, in the meantime, I have 12 soaps left so if you would like to purchase the last of our Soaperstar handcrafted luxury glycerine soaps, please check out our website at http://www.soaperstar.com/userimages/Goatsmilk-and-Glycerine-Soaps(1854680).htm.

The soaps we have left are:

Mister Blue Genes - with added Golden Jojoba Oil, fragranced with a stunning blend of apple and mandarin, within a heart of exotic jasmine and violet, ending on a deep musk base - the fragrance is has fresh notes from the fruit, a mild floral heart followed within a deep musky base; coloured with the deepest blue mica to create lustrous blue swirls mingling with black and white swirls.

Chritmas Glisten luxury handcrafted goatsmilk & glycerine soap with added Shea Butter & our Ecocert skin conditioner, will leave your skin wonderfully clean, soft and beautifully fragranced; coloured using natural mica, this soap softly glistens. The fragrance: is a cosy blend of festive fruits, wine and sweet warm spices. It is a beautiful blend, softly spiced with a warm fruity background, that leaves your skin beautifully fragranced.

Orange Blush - added Apricot Kernel Oil, fragranced with a fresh cologne, blending perfumed bergamot and sweet orange blossom with delicate cottony florals on a base of precious powdery musks; coloured using stunning bronzed swirls created using a blend of orangey bronze coloured natural mica alongside bright orange and white goatsmilk swirls.

Pineapple Beach - added pure Organic Coconut Oil, this is fragranced with a delicious, fresh, sweet & juicy pineapple scent; coloured using a blend of two different natural glistening micas

Grab them now cos when they're gone, they're gone!!!


Fun Christmas Treasure Hunt

Do you fancy having a little fun and taking part in a special online Christmas Treasure Hunt?

We've joined forces with 13 other websites to bring you a fabulous Christmas Treasure Hunt where you can be in with a chance to win one of the 14 amazing prizes up for grabs.

How to Play:
The Christmas Treasure Hunt will take you across 14 different websites where you collect the letters of a Christmas anagram.. take a note of the letter! At each website, you'll be given a link to the next website and a clue where you can find the next letter of the anagram.  Keep collecting the letters and following the links through the various websites until you reach the last one... once you've reached the final website, it's time to solve the Christmas anagram.  Once you've done that, email your answer to win one of the 14 amazing prizes (the email address will be provided at the final website).

Closing date for this competition is Thursday 30 December at 5.00 pm CET and winners will be announced on Monday 3 January, winners will be selected by the ‘name out of a hat’ method.  Make sure to state in your email which of the prizes listed below you'd like to receive should you win and every effort will be made to match winners with the prize they selected. Judges decision is final.

What are we waiting for….. Grab your pen and paper to write down your anagram letters and let’s go……

First Letter of the Anagram is – C and the first website on your Christmas Treasure Hunt is http://www.cgonlinemarketing.com/ - your clue is ‘We can audit your website up to the age, that but the first port of call is the ‘Social Media’ page’

Have fun!!!!

Prizes:

• €150 Advertising Voucher by Derry O’Donnell at Tipp Tatler - The Premier Magazine from the Premier County; this voucher can be used in either the Tipp Tatler or the Laois/Offaly Tatler - Prize only applies to Ireland
• MP3 Audio Program with an accompanying PDF Workbook by Elli St. George Godfrey, Entrepreneurial Coach at Ability Success Growth - titled “Later Isn’t Coming: 5 Strategies to Eliminate Procrastination”.  This mp3 audio program with an accompanying PDF workbook is your ticket to eliminating procrastination!  Prize is valid worldwide
• €40 Online Gift Voucher by Fiona Fewer for Dink Design (Jewellery designer); this voucher is valid worldwide for any online purchase on the Dink Design website
• Beautiful Two Tier Nappy cake by Gabrielle Stephan and Nicole Bogue at Little Giggles Baby; this beautiful two tier Nappy Cake is the perfect prize for any new member of the family, winner can choice the colour they prefer. Free shipping to the winner however please note that this prize only applies to Ireland
• One Year free subscription to De-Stress 4 Life Magazine; this prize consists of one year free subscription to De-Stress 4 Life Magazine, a copy of each issue of this magazine will arrive by post to your home starting from the Spring 2011 issue. This prize is valid worldwide.
• 3 Hours of free online assistance for Facebook and Twitter startup by Sian Phillips at Sians; this prize consists of 3 hours of online assistance for business Facebook and Twitter startups, this prize will suit anyone in business thinking of venturing into the world of social media and not quite sure where to start. Sian Phillips expertise will certainly pave the way in an ‘easy to learn’ fashion. This prize is available worldwide.
• Gift Bag of two handcrafted luxury Soaps by Celine Blacow of Soaperstar; Soaperstar handcrafted luxury goatsmilk & glycerine soap gift bay includes two fabulous soaps, with added oils/butters and an Ecocert skin conditioning additive; all wonderfully fragranced and coloured. The winner can pick their choice of gift bag - the soap duo will be sent in a fabulous purple glossy gift bag.  The prize will be sent within 30 days of the announcement of the winner’s name and this prize only applies to Ireland.
• €50 Gift Voucher by Lorna Sixsmith of Garrendenny Lane Interiors; this 50€ Gift Voucher can be used for any online purchase on the Garrendenny Lane interiors online shop which is full of wonderful products for the home. This voucher applies to any shoppers from Ireland, UK, EU and the US
• Free 1 Hour Personal Branding Session by Greg Fry at Careers Coach valued at €99; this free one hour Personal Branding session is perfect for anyone in business who is looking for some professional guidance, the expertise of Greg Fry is well know in Ireland making this a must have prize for any business person. This prize is available worldwide on Skype or face-to-face if the lucky winner comes from Dublin. More details about the services that Greg provides are available on his website.
• Handcrafted Child’s name plaque by Elaine Glesson of BonnyBabe; the lucky winner of this prize will have their very own name plaque handcrafted by the talented Elaine Glesson, the winner can choose from a range of themes and have any name on the plaque. This prize is available world-wide. The editor of De-Stress 4 Life has one of these plaques hanging on her office door…
• Free online Marketing Audit with Competitor Analysis by Christina Jennifer Giliberti of CG ONLINE MARKETING; a perfect prize for any business. A free online marketing audit with competitor analysis (maximum of 2 websites if it’s a group and two competitor websites – to be chosen by winner), plus a 25% discount off any one of our services* *Monthly services are NOT included.  This prize can apply to any area of the world. Payment of one off services needs to be in euros.  Full list of services are available to view on http://www.cgonlinemarketing.com/. Value of the prize is 50€, not including additional services discount.
• A Classic Wall Mural by Darren Gale at Sweet Dreams Ireland; the lucky winner of this prize has a choice from the Classic Mural Range at the Sweet Dreams Ireland Website, valued at €49.99, prize available in Ireland only. To view all the murals in this range please visit the Sweet Dreams Ireland website.
• €25 Gift Voucher by Jen Doyle towards any purchase by Doyle Jewellery Design; this Gift Voucher can be used towards any piece of handcrafted Jewellery on the Doyle Jewellery Design website and is valid for one year from the date of issue. Doyle Jewellery Design is one of of Ireland’s much loved jewellery designers for Brides.
• ‘The Art of Meditation’ book by Catherine A Connors at Stress Solutions 4 Life; this book takes a beginners look at Meditation and is perfect for anyone starting out and not quite sure where or how to start. It gives step by step instructions along with the do’s and don’t of Meditation. This prize is available to all worldwide.

Terms and Conditions:
Once the winners are announced ,you will be put in touch with the Person, Persons or Business offering the prize, they will communicate with you on how you will receive your prize. De-Stress 4 Life Magazine nor its editor are responsible for any loss of prizes, mis-communication or issues surrounding your prize. Those issues must be dealt with by the prize givers. Prizes are as stated above, they cannot be exchanged for cash or other services. You are free to publicize this competition on your own website, magazine or other online social media method of communication. The Christmas Treasure Hunt Logo is the copyright of De-Stress 4 Life. 

De-Stress 4 Life Magazine would like to take a moment to thank all the websites who took part in this great Christmas Treasure Hunt, we are thankful for your time and the amazing prizes in which were offered.

Winter Wonderland Soap Competition - Winner Announced

Drum roll.......... and the winner is ............ wait for, wait for it.......... me!!! Yay!!! Yep I won the Winter Wonderland soap competition on http://www.creativesoapweek.com/ and I'm sooooooooo chuffed.  What an honour - I've not been making cold process for very long (but have been reading about it and researching for an age) so, to win this competition with a cold process soap I made is just so excellent.  I'm thrilled. 

Here's an image of my winning soap:

Details on all the winners (because they decided to have more than one, which is excellent) are available here http://www.creativesoapweek.com/results-are-in-see-who-won-the-winter-wonderland-soap-making-contest. 

I want to say a huge thanks to Betty Miller of Magic Senses who sponsor CreativeSoapWeek.com and this competition. 

It's a Winter Wonderland out there!

Snowy pictures from Dublin, Ireland:

Outside the house first thing this morning

Snowy trees

Mr Miaow Miaow Junior, the outdoors cat, all snuggled in his Kitty Krate with lots of food

And talking of Winter Wonderland's, can I ask you, if you haven't already, to vote for me in CreativeSoapWeek.com Winter Wonderland competition - just click the radio button beside my name, Celine Blacow, and then click VOTE - that's it, simples! http://www.creativesoapweek.com/vote-for-your-favorite-soap-in-the-winter-wonderland-soap-making-contest - voting ends on Tuesday so get voting now! Thanks to everyone who's already voted for me, cheers!

Winter Wonderland - entry into CreativeSoapWeek.com Winter Wonderland competition

Beautiful Soap Wedding Favours - coming in January 2011

I'm so happy to announce that we will be introducing beautiful soap wedding favours into our range from January 2011. 

These will be handcrafted using wonderfully luxurious goatsmilk & glycerine soap which will include added Sweet Almond Oil which is cold pressed from the kernels of sweet almond fruit and is one of the most popular oils for use in cosmetics. The oil is rich in plant sterols, essential fatty acids and is rich in vitamins A, B1, B2 & B6 which combine to make a highly beneficial oil for use in skin care products. To this, I add an Ecocert skin conditioning agent to further enhance the fantastic skin feel of our luxury soaps.

Glycerine soap has long been used for dry skin conditions as it is a humectant which means it draws moisture into your skin.

We are offering these soaps in a choice of fragrances and colours, to match your wedding theme.  We're more than happy to discuss, with the happy couple, their personal favourite fragrances and colours and produce soapy wedding favours that will not only enhance the whole celebratory day, but will allow your guests to remember your fantastic day by taking home a memento that is not only beautiful, but practical too!

Below are samples of the soaps we'll be introducing from January 2011.

Each soap is €2.50 (approximately £2.10), and weighs approximately 85g.  This price includes a choice of ribbon colour and organza gift bag to match your wedding colour scheme.  The minimum order is for 45 soaps but larger orders can be accommodated - your order must be placed a minimum of 8 weeks prior to the requested delivery date.

Beautiful pure goatsmilk soap presented in luxury organza bags with personalised Wedding Day labels

We can personalise your labels to include the couples names and their wedding date

Close up of soap details - soaps will come in a variety of these three designs

Contact us at info@soaperstar.com if you would like to discuss your requirements and you can check out all our other Soaperstar products at http://www.soaperstar.com/.

Sheer Luxury Organza Christmas Gift Bags

During the weekend, I uploaded images of our two new Christmas Gift bags - Festive Orange Spice & Christmas Glisten - to the website.  I thought you might like to hear about them. 

They comprise of one luxury handcrafted goatsmilk & glycerine soap, one Sheer Luxury Body Butter and one Sheer Luxury Body Polish sugar scrub, all beautifully presented in a colour co-ordinated organza gift bag with satin ribbon ties.

Festive Orange Spice is a strong, rich dark and spicy orange and cinnamon blend, very cosy and heartwarming. It is a very traditionally Christmassy fragrance blend that works really well for bath and body products; a perfect Wintery scent that will leave your skin beautifully fragranced.

Christmas Glisten is a cosy blend of festive fruits, wine and sweet warm spices. It is a beautiful Christmassy blend, softly spiced with a warm fruity background, that leaves your skin beautifully fragranced.

Product Descriptions (so you know what you're buying!):
Luxury Handcrafted Goatsmilk & Glycerine Soap - with added Shea Butter & our Ecocert skin conditioner, this soap will leave your skin wonderfully clean, soft and beautifully fragranced; coloured using natural mica, this soap softly glistens.

Sheer Luxury Body Polish - a new addition to the Sheer Luxury range, this sugar scrub is crammed full of exotic Macadamia Butter & Coconut Oil along with unrefined golden brown sugar crystals to help remove any dead and dry skin, leaving your skin feeling soft, glowing and beautifully moisturised. This is designed to wash off in the shower after use. Best followed by our Sheer Luxury Body Butter.

Instructions for use: After showering (using your luxury handcrafted soap), scoop out a handful of the scrub and, using circular motions, gently scrub any dry skin from your body. Don't use on the face or any tender areas including broken skin. Suitable for use up to 2 - 3 times a week.

Sheer Luxury Body Butter - with luxury Shea Butter, Coconut Oil & Rice Bran Oil, this whipped body butter is a deeply intensive moisturiser made with 100% of our pure quality oils and butters; you need only a small amount to have the softest skin ever. The butters and oils are specifically chosen for their ability to condition, soften and protect your skin.

Instructions for Use: Apply all over the body (avoiding the facial area) and allow 10 minutes prior to dressing, to allow the product to soak completely into your skin; can also be used a hand/cutical cream. A little goes a long way.

Note: None of these products are designed for use on your face, so please ensure you avoid this area. Do not use on broken skin. Our Body Polish may leave the bottom of your shower/bath slippery so please exercise caution. Avoid getting any water into your body polish jar in use/storage as this can affect the effectiveness of the scrub.  

Minimum Weights/Capacity: Soap 120g, Body Butter 100mls, Body Polish 200mls

You can purchase these fabulous gift bags exclusively online for only €23 (excl. P+P) - just click this Christmassy link!

Winter Berry - Cut Pictures

So, I promised you cut pictures of my first HP soap which I've decided to call Winter Berry.  It's a blend of berry, ginger and cinnamon fragrance - really lovely.  It's coloured with Grape POP mica too (it's more purple than the picture shows).  It's made with Sweet Almond Oil, Palm Oil, Coconut Oil, Cocoa Butter and Castor Oil with added silk. 

Winter Berry:

I'd love to hear your comments about this!

I broke my HP cherry... well, my berry really

I had it in my mind to make a cold process soap today.  I worked out a nice recipe with Sweet Almond Oil, Cocoa Butter, Palm Oil, Coconut Oil and Castor Oil (for the bubble factor!).  It was a lovely blend, nicely balanced between hardness, conditioning, bubbles etc etc.  I worked it all out on Soap Calc (for those who read this but don't make soap, Soap Calc is a calculator that helps you work out the correct amounts of oils/butters to use with the correct amount of lye so that you get full saponification - the chemical reaction between the fats and the lye that makes soap ... end of chemistry lesson!). 

Then I thought, I wanted to do something maybe pink or purple and maybe a berry fragrance but it's nearly Christmas so maybe something with a bit of spice too? So I raided my cupboard and found some Forest Fruits fragrance oil and blended this with a Ginger Spice fragrance oil - hubs, as usual, smelt it and agreed it was lovely and thought it rather a masculine blend (I suspect that was more the "out of bottle" fragrance rather than the "in use" fragrance, however). 

So, I got to work .. weighed out my hard oils and melted them, added to my fluid oils.  I decided to use some Titanium Dioxide to make the base soap whiter so mixed a little with some of the oils and added the mix back into my oils.  I weighed out my fragrance blend and added that to the oils too.  I'd made up my lye with my added silk and it was cooling in the sink, coming to the right temperature for me.  I put some Raspberry and Grape POP micas into two seperate cups and put them in front of me so they'd be close at hand when I was ready to go.

I put everything together on the work top and checked my stick blender was working ... and then got to work, pouring the lye water into the oils and stick blending to a light trace.  I mixed a third of this base batter into the pink, and another third into the purple and mixed them both carefully.  Then I did a nice in the pot swirl and poured everything into my new silicone mould.  All jolly fine, I was happy (wish I'd used more colour but I'll know better next time). 

I carried the mould carefully upstairs to the spare bedroom aka the soapy studio and thought, as I was walking downstairs "oh, this'll be really nice with the cocoa butter in it".  And then thought, "hang on, what cocoa butter??".  ARGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHH, I forget the cocoa butter!!! I never even weighed it out, I just totally forget it!!! Damn!

So what now? Well, as ever, after complaining a lot and feeling very rubbish and moaning at myself, I jumped on the net and asked on my favourite soaping forum "what do I do now?".  The answer was, if it's not fully set, melt the cocoa butter and stick blend it in.  Ugh, I'll lose my swirls.  If it was too hard, I could hot process it.  Now, seeing as I bought a crockpot (or slow cooker, which is the same thing) last weekend I thought, why not.  It's like the God of Soap was telling me to do it, go and try hot process. 

So I went and got the soap, turned the crockpot on and scooped all the soap into the bowl.  Yes I lost the swirls but I was doing something new so that'd make up for them.  So I let the soap cook as I went to melt the cocoa butter.  I also mixed a little extra grape POP mica in a cup with a little extra Sweet Almond Oil and a tinch extra of the Ginger Spice fragrance oil because, when I had mixed everything in the crockpot, it was a rather grey sludge and I wanted to try and keep at least some of the berry effect going. 

So it cooked; I left it for about an hour, stirring a little in between.  I tested the soap for zap about half way through - it's a very good way of learning what zap feels it! Boy, it did zap on me.  I cooked it a while longer and tested again - about 50 minutes in, it was pretty well cooked through, but I left it for another 5 minutes, just in case.  I then took it off the heat and added my purple fragrant oil mix and mixed it fully through the grey sludge of hot soap.  It was a really nice purple colour now and smelt fabulous - like hot spicy jam or something!  With the help of hubs, I glopped it in the mould (there's not much else you can do with HP soap, it's not as fluid as CP, glopping in the only choice really). 

So, here is my first hot process soap sitting in my new Crafters Choice silicone mould (yay no lining!!) .. I'll post cut pictures tomorrow to show you how it worked out.  Oh and I believe you're supposed to put a lid on and weigh it down which helps to compress any air bubbles out and makes for a smoother soap but I didn't have a lid and couldn't find anything to put on top that fit the aperture exactly ... so I didn't!

Hope you like it - more pics tomorrow.